11/16/2017

China Craves more from Foreign Films

Chinese audiences are craving more then Hollywood is offering them; although at one time the Chinese film market meant more to Hollywood then even the American market it seems this is changing faster then Hollywood would have wanted. Not say Hollywood was not preparing for this change as a 2016 article by the LA Times reported "Over the last six years, the top 25 films in China by revenue have usually included eight to 10 foreign films." This report was in response to the growing number of popular domestic films in China being more satisfying to Chinese audiences, and the summer of 2017 proved to Hollywood that blockbusters are not the big time money makers in China that they once were.

Vivienne Chow of Variety reported that "foreign films from outside Hollywood have proven to be popular in China over the past year". When you couple this finding with the huge response in China to Chinese made films like Wolf Warrior II it is no real surprise that China's love affair with Hollywood is seemingly ending. "Seemingly" because big time Hollywood films are still making money for example as Thor Ragnarok made over 56 million dollars opening weekend in China according to Box Office Mojo. Despite this most Hollywood films are under performing in China.

China is taking big steps to prove to Hollywood that they are not cash cows anymore by halting deals with Hollywood studios, as CNBC reported "A $1 billion, three-year deal by Chinese firms Huahua Media and Shanghai Film Group with Paramount Pictures was intended to help the studio finance films and get released and marketed in China, but has stalled".The deals stalled by China dealt with the distribution of Hollywood films in China meaning many big studio films like Baywatch were not distributed in China meaning studios lost out on a possible big money opportunity.

Head of the China task force of the Producers Guild of America Elizabeth Dell was quoted in an interview saying "China absolutely wants to have its own home-grown film business". This year China has taking a huge leap to make that happen; stalling the release of Hollywood films in China allows for smaller Chinese produced movies like The Mermaid to do extremely well at the Chinese box office. And with the Chinese film market growing so quickly it appears as if Hollywood is no longer needed to provided entertainment to Chinese audiences.

Chinese audiences are finally showing the foreign film markets that they want more, and the bad thing for foreign markets is the Chinese film studios are stepping up. Like everyone in the rest of the world Chinese audiences want to be represented in film and the best way they can see that is not watching Matt Damon fighting monsters but instead see themselves represented, and who better than Chinese studios to bring audiences those movies. And with China's censorship laws it is easier for Chinese filmmakers to make movies that pass the censors then foreign studios. All these things show that in sometime China will no longer be relying on foreign films for entertainment.

Comments

Chinese audiences are craving more then Hollywood is offering them; although at one time the Chinese film market meant more to Hollywood then even the American market it seems this is changing faster then Hollywood would have wanted. Not say Hollywood was not preparing for this change as a 2016 article by the LA Times reported "Over the last six years, the top 25 films in China by revenue have usually included eight to 10 foreign films." This report was in response to the growing number of popular domestic films in China being more satisfying to Chinese audiences, and the summer of 2017 proved to Hollywood that blockbusters are not the big time money makers in China that they once were.

Vivienne Chow of Variety reported that "foreign films from outside Hollywood have proven to be popular in China over the past year". When you couple this finding with the huge response in China to Chinese made films like Wolf Warrior II it is no real surprise that China's love affair with Hollywood is seemingly ending. "Seemingly" because big time Hollywood films are still making money for example as Thor Ragnarok made over 56 million dollars opening weekend in China according to Box Office Mojo. Despite this most Hollywood films are under performing in China.

China is taking big steps to prove to Hollywood that they are not cash cows anymore by halting deals with Hollywood studios, as CNBC reported "A $1 billion, three-year deal by Chinese firms Huahua Media and Shanghai Film Group with Paramount Pictures was intended to help the studio finance films and get released and marketed in China, but has stalled".The deals stalled by China dealt with the distribution of Hollywood films in China meaning many big studio films like Baywatch were not distributed in China meaning studios lost out on a possible big money opportunity.

Head of the China task force of the Producers Guild of America Elizabeth Dell was quoted in an interview saying "China absolutely wants to have its own home-grown film business". This year China has taking a huge leap to make that happen; stalling the release of Hollywood films in China allows for smaller Chinese produced movies like The Mermaid to do extremely well at the Chinese box office. And with the Chinese film market growing so quickly it appears as if Hollywood is no longer needed to provided entertainment to Chinese audiences.

Chinese audiences are finally showing the foreign film markets that they want more, and the bad thing for foreign markets is the Chinese film studios are stepping up. Like everyone in the rest of the world Chinese audiences want to be represented in film and the best way they can see that is not watching Matt Damon fighting monsters but instead see themselves represented, and who better than Chinese studios to bring audiences those movies. And with China's censorship laws it is easier for Chinese filmmakers to make movies that pass the censors then foreign studios. All these things show that in sometime China will no longer be relying on foreign films for entertainment.